Near East School of Theology

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Near East School of Theology in Beirut

The Near East School of Theology Beirut (NEST) is one of four sponsoring churches (Armenian Protestant Church, Presbyterian Synod of Syria and Lebanon , Église Nationale Évangélique de Beyrouth (Evangelical National Church of Beirut), Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East ) College with a Protestant profile, one of the few training centers for the future clergy of the small but important Protestant churches in the Middle East. With its location in Ras Beirut in the center of the city, unlike many other theological training centers, it is directly linked to general events in Lebanon. It shares some premises with the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), with which it is closely connected as part of the ecumenical movement.

education

The lessons are based on the American education system (BDiv, Master of Divinity, etc.) and take place in English for two semesters per academic year. The teaching staff consists of a team of international and Lebanese-Syrian professors, with a double occupation for each theological subject ( Old Testament , New Testament , Systematic Theology , Church History , Practical Theology ). In addition to the usual program for theological universities, Islamic studies is an important part of the academic program and is guaranteed by another faculty member who is qualified in Islamic studies.

With over 42,000 volumes and approx. 80 journals, the library is one of the most important collections of Middle Eastern Protestant theology and Middle East church studies, and has excellent holdings in Islamic and ecumenical studies . In addition to the main English stock of the library, there are works in Arabic, Armenian, German and French.

Since 2000, NEST, interested in foreign students, has been offering a "Academic Year in the Middle East" (SiMO) for German theology students from their main studies in cooperation with the Evangelical Mission in Southwest Germany (EMS), which in addition to participation in the general academic program of NEST also offers courses included in Middle East Church Studies. For the academic year 2006/07, the program was suspended due to the Israeli-Lebanese war in the summer of 2006, but it was restarted in the academic year 2007/08.

In addition, a joint postgraduate course (degree: STM in Ministry) with the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago has been established for several years and is to be further expanded.

history

The Near East School of Theology was established in its current form in 1932 when the School for Religious Workers (Beirut) merged with the School of Religion (Athens) in Beirut. The Lebanese part, like the American University of Beirut, goes back to the Syrian Protestant College founded by American missionaries . Since that year, both have continued as independent institutions that still work closely together in some areas to this day.

The international orientation of NEST is therefore not a phenomenon of the last few decades, but has always been part of its special academic profile. Both the international composition of the faculty and the English language of instruction were fixed components of the training long before the Second World War .

In 1971, NEST moved to its new, well-equipped building in Ras Beirut, just two blocks from the American University, where it stayed during the Lebanese civil war and to this day.

Publications

Since 1978, the university has published the quarterly journal The Near East School of Theology Theological Review, in which English and Arabic-language articles on various topics of Middle Eastern Christianity and the dialogue with Islam are published.

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